Educational attainment and IQ over time

Summary

This article examines the relationship between educational attainment and intelligence over time. It discusses the claim that modern education is no longer as valuable as it used to be and looks into the evidence of the decline in the educational system. The author finds little evidence to support the claim and looks into studies which suggest that educational attainment improves scores on scholastically related tests, but not other tests. Additionally, the author analyses the correlation between IQ and educational attainment and IQ over time, as well as the average IQ of an American citizen. The article also discusses the Flynn Effect and the dysgenic fertility which may have caused a small genetic decrease in IQ. The author simulates the average IQs by education level and sex, and finds evidence that the correlation between IQ and education is decreasing.

Q&As

AI Comments

👍 This article provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between educational attainment and IQ over time, using relevant literature and data to support its conclusions.

👎 While this article presents some interesting findings, it fails to address any of the potential flaws with its data or sources.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about educational attainment and IQ over time. It suggests that college graduates in 1940 were as smart as PhDs in 2018. It also talks about how some critics of the modern education system think that the standards and quality have declined throughout the years and that education is no longer as valuable as it used to be.

Friend: That's interesting. What are the implications of this article?

Me: It suggests that educational standards have not impeded the scholastic achievement scores of children, and that the skills taught in school do transfer to other cognitive abilities. It also shows that intelligence does cause differences in educational attainment between individuals, as intelligence test scores measured at young ages are still able to predict educational attainment. However, there has been a decrease in the correlation between IQ and educational attainment, suggesting that intelligence is not the only factor that determines success. The article also suggests that there is a small genetic decrease in IQ due to dysgenic fertility, although this is masked by measurement variance across different time cohorts.

Action items

• Research the Flynn Effect and its implications for IQ scores over time.
• Analyze the correlation between IQ and educational attainment over time.
• Investigate the role of nutrition and health in secular changes in intelligence.

Technical terms

GI Bill

The GI Bill was a law passed in 1944 that provided educational and housing benefits to veterans of World War II.

Flynn Effect

The Flynn Effect is the phenomenon of IQ scores increasing over time. It is named after James Flynn, who first identified the trend in the 1980s.

Measurement Invariance

Measurement invariance is the idea that a measure of a construct should remain the same over time.

Wordsum

The Wordsum is a 10-item vocabulary test used to measure intelligence.

ASVAB

The ASVAB is a standardized test used by the United States military to assess aptitude and skills.

Simpson's Fallacy

Simpson's Fallacy is a logical fallacy that occurs when a correlation between two variables is misinterpreted as causation.

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